October 15, 2012

Jones ready for breakout season

DALLAS -– Dominique Jones’ first two seasons in the NBA have been somewhat of a downer.

Chosen No. 25th overall in the 2010 draft, Jones was a prolific scorer at South Florida where he wasnamed first-team all-Big East during his final season in college. But thus far in the NBA, Jones has been laboring in anonimity.

And he’s certainly not accustomed to being just another basketball player.

“It has been different adjusting to this, and my main thing is just try not to get used to it,’’ Jones said. “You don’t want to get content and just be like, ‘Ok, this is who I am.’

“You want to continue to push for the player that you want to be. With all that being said, I’m still pushing to be a star like I plan to be. If anything else changes that, then there’s nothing I can do.’’

Jones has always been a player who thrived on attacking the basket. He just has to get more consistent with burying jumpshots.

“Getting to the basket, getting to the paint, that’s what I do,’’ Jones said. “I can do that with my eyes closed.

“I’m just getting use to everything and getting the rust from the game off me, because I haven’t played any consistent real basketball in two years. So just getting all of that off me, looking at different things in the game and just pushing it out.’’

The Mavs have noticed a change in Jones’ demeanor. They’ve also noticed that he’s become a much harder worker than he was the first two seasons.

“The thing I like the most about Dominique is his consistent aggressiveness,’’ coach Rick Carlisle said. “The only thing that I’m talking to him about daily is trying to minimize the number of dribbles needed to do what he does.

“We want to be a great passing team, and he’s great off the dribble. I just want to make sure that he’s efficient with his use of the dribble.’’

Jones just wants to be sure his attitude is in the right place.

“The only thing I’m worried about is the things that I can control,’’ he said. “And that’s my attitude, the way I play, and the things I do when I get out on the court.

“And I’ve got to make good decisions and just be ready to shoot. Everything will come together in time. If I continue to play in preseason, get better in practice everything will work out.’’

With the Mavs losing Jason Terry and Jason Kidd to free agency, Jones knew there was a chance for him to get more minutes.

“I see opportunity,’’ Jones said. “Depending on how many minutes and everything, that’s up to how I do in practice and that’s up to coach and all of the other coaches.

“And even when I get in the game, (it’s up to) my productivity. It’s just a lot of things that jump into it when it comes to how many minutes you play. Like I said the only things I worry about is the things that I can control, and I’ll get what’s coming to me.’’